Hopeful for both ‘reason, humanity’

Once again, heart-wrenching events from elsewhere have given us all pause.

And while on this Memorial Day weekend we celebrate the service and sacrifices of the United States military, we also contemplate the senseless violence that continues to plague our country.

Be it in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, N.Y., or all the other datelines with which we are sadly so familiar, the taking of innocent lives is acutely felt across our homeland and prompts us again to try and find solutions to a most problematic issue.

At times, we are prone to look away and divert our attention to topics less troublesome, but there is no escaping the harsh realities of what we see and read about all too often. Besides, information is key to understanding and decision-making.

During the COVID-19 pandemic days, it seemed that despite the noise and arguments about vaccines, face masks, and public health safety restrictions, most persons attempted to be kind and considerate of those whom they encountered most frequently -- neighbors, pharmacists, healthcare professionals, businessmen and women, grocery store workers, hospitality industry representatives.

Thankfully, local nonprofits and churches stayed the course during those darker days, joining hands to help meet the needs of community residents. It is they who are and must be part of any equation to ensure the well-being of this city's young and older populations.

And, of course, staying closely connected to friends and family remains a lifeline throughout any crisis or difficult situation.

Honest and open communication is critical to finding the way out of a morass. Most communities are diverse in nature and therefore diverse viewpoints must be expressed if serious challenges are to be met and overcome.

Finding common ground is not impossible, although it requires more than a modicum of persistence.

Regardless of who they are and where they reside, most people want normalcy in their lives -- a normalcy that does not include systemic violence that robs them of their loved ones.

In his latest book, "Every Cloak Rolled in Blood," award-winning author Jame Lee Burke's main character, Aaron Holland Broussard, opines, "I want to believe in the normal world, one that is governed by reason and humanity."

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